Arriva Trains Wales: excruciatingly thankful

We spent today in Cardiff and, as usual, made the ¾ hour journey by train - so much nicer than fighting for a parking space in the big city, and doubtless cheaper too.  I was intrigued to discover, though, that Arriva Trains Wales has given their on-board information system an 'upgrade'... if that's the right word for it.  As we made our way westward, a friendly female voice kept us fully informed on our progress.

"The next station is Chepstow.  Thank you."

"We are now approaching Severn Tunnel Junction.  Thank you."

"The next station is Newport.  Thank you."

etc.

Why 'Thank you'?  Why are they thanking me for the next station?  Do they think I put it there, just so they could run their trains to it?  Surely, should it not be I who am thanking them for getting me there?  

And so the English language gets another corporate battering. Perhaps it makes more sense in Welsh.

Lowering the pressure

This is the day set by Nurse Mary to recheck my blood pressure.  I dutifully turned up at the Health Centre this morning, feeling cool and calm, and more than a little pleased with myself.  Since last I blogged here I have been a very good girl indeed and stuck faithfully to my new diet.

I seriously considered the 5:2 diet (500 calories per day on 2 days every week) but decided that it wasn't for me, despite glowing testimonies to its effectiveness from several friends.  I did try a 500 calorie day once, when staying with Aunt Sarah, but found that I just piled the weight on again the day after.  What I needed, I concluded, was a disciplined approach 7 days a week.  In this world there are those who eat to live, and others who live to eat.  I'm definitely in the second category.

As well as being rather ill-disciplined when it comes to eating, I'm also a gismologist and found just what I needed in the Google Play app store. So now I have the Noom Weight Loss Coach on my beloved smartphone and I'm driving my partner nutz by checking and recording every meal before eating it.  However, I've drawn the line at becoming a real nurd and taking my smartphone everywhere I go so that it can count my steps. Most of my cardies don't have pockets.

The Noom app also tracks me (using GPS) when I go walking and calculates the number of calories burned. This week saw me at home more that I'd have wished as I'm still busily redecorating the lounge, but even so I managed 5.3 miles and burned off 611 calories.

So how have I done?  I do realize that weight can fall away quite readily at the beginning of a diet, but I reckon that 4½lb lost is no mean achievement.  Moreover, my blood pressure is down from last week's 140:85 to 130:80, so Nursie doesn't want to see me again until my next Decapeptyl jab in October.